100 Quotes On Business From The 100 Greatest Living Business Minds

To mark Forbes’ centennial, Forbes assembled 100 essays from the top entrepreneurs, visionaries and thinkers, each sharing an idea or lesson. They're meant to inspire and inform future entrepreneurs, the generation that will build and shape the next century. In their full form, the essays are swiftly told, and they’ve been distilled even further below: to a quote from each.

"You cannot do everything alone--especially when you get to a certain level. It is impossible." -- Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, Chobani Yogurt.

"We need to have a beginner's mind to think about what is happening." -- Marc Benioff, founder, Salesforce.

"Companies will succeed and fail based on their ability to translate data...into insights and actions and products and services." -- Michael Dell, founder, Dell Technologies.

"Every morning I wake up and ask, Where am I? I don't know where I am because I am jumping around the world, but I don't want to go to sleep. It's thrilling." -- Masayoshi Son, founder, Softbank.

"It's just foolishness to not recognize the creativity that you can unlock in the corporate world." -- Bono, lead singer, U2; cofounder, One, (Red), Elevation Partners, Rise Fund.

"I'm very clear that everything I do is authentic, practiced and viable--and the end result is generally beautiful." -- Martha Stewart, American tastemaker.

"I think that the most important issue that will reshape our lives in the years ahead will be how man-made and artificial intelligence compete and work together." -- Ray Dalio, founder Bridgewater Associates.

"A leader works for those they lead." -- Martine Rothblatt, founder, Sirius, United Therapeutics.

"Sometimes the best way to make money is when most people say you are wrong and nuts." -- Carl Icahn, founder, Icahn Enterprises.

"Curiosity has kept me young as I have gotten older." -- Les Wexner, visionary of The Limited (Victoria's Secret, Pink, Etc.).

"We are better employees when we stop trying to be two people and bring our whole selves to work." -- Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook.

"Most people fail in science because they talk themselves out of doing the experiment. Ideas are a dime a dozen. What makes the difference is the execution of the idea." -- Craig Venter, founder, Celera Genomics.

"When you start something today, you usually have to start it all over the world at the same time to be successful." -- Bernard Arnault, founder, LVMH.

"Every industry today has to fight complacency, prepare to see the disruption coming and then be flexible enough to adapt swiftly." -- Lakshmi Mittal, chairman, CEO, Arcelormittal.

"If I were starting out now, I would look at what the competition is like in various fields--and then consider some that aren't so popular." -- Julian Robertson, founder, Tiger Management.

"We're the first species capable of self-annihilation, and it's extremely likely, given enough time. The question: Can we get ahead of it?" -- Elon Musk, co-founder, Paypal, Tesla, SpaceX.

"No business school graduate would recommend gambling as a financial strategy, but sometimes it pays to be a little crazy early in your career." -- Fred Smith, founder, FedEx.

"If your mother calls you and tells you that she is proud of what you are doing, that's probably a good indication that you are on the road to happiness." -- David Rubenstein, co-CEO, The Carlyle Group.

"In maybe 20 or 30 years, we will use things like stem cells to change disease outcomes." -- Paul Allen, co-founder, Microsoft.

"Integrity means honesty and willingness to fulfill a promise, even at high cost." -- Morris Chang, founder, Taiwan Semiconductor.

"The four most important words in business are 'What do you think?'" -- Bill Marriott, Jr., chairman, Marriott International.

"If someone is out in the desert walking around, they're going to be thirsty. You just have to ask them what they want to drink." -- Arthur Blank, co-founder, Home Depot.

"I'm the one who decides, but I like having lots of other people with whom I can discuss ideas." -- Giorgio Armani, founder, Armani.

"And Si [Newhouse], who is a billionaire, said, "No, I'm not going to write a check for $1 million. Let's pay them $100,000 a month." And when I asked him why, he said, "I don't want them to think that money comes that easily."'I don't want them to think that money comes that easily.'" -- Larry Gagosian, the Picasso of art dealers.

"Part of learning is done through reading, and the other part, which is likely more important, is talking with bright minds from different fields." -- Neil Shen, China's preeminent venture capitalist.

"If you're present and awake, you become this great thinker, this great worker. You become a fine-tuned machine." -- Russell Simmons, hip-hop pioneer; serial entrepreneur; yoga guru.

"What allowed me to survive is that I was always honest and I truly believed in what I did." -- Diane von Furstenberg, fashion icon.

"You have to enjoy coming in to work each day and going to battle for what you believe in, and for the people who you believe in." -- Donald Trump, owner, The Trump Organization; 45th President of the United States.

"You need to be curious and never stop studying. You have to challenge yourself to think every day to understand and react to what is happening." -- Miuccia Prada, co-CEO, Prada.

"At the end we leave with nothing. Entrepreneurs are only temporary managers of wealth. So do right by your customers, your employees, your backers. " -- Carlos Slim Helú, Mexico's one-man economy; one-time richest person in the world.

"Being in business by yourself, you're responsible, one way or the other, and I had a lot of success that way." -- David Geffen, founder, Asylum Records, Geffen Records; cofounder, Dreamworks.

"I stress the importance of having another life outside of business so that when it does come time to retire, the transition is easier." -- Sandy Weill, Wall Street conglomerator.

"It's so easy for someone with a great idea to share it with the world in an instant, the pace of innovation is accelerating—and that opens up more areas than ever for exploration." -- Bill Gates, global philanthropist; cofounder, Microsoft.

"Organizations resist innovation--and those that do inevitably fail--because people are more comfortable with what they know than with what they don't." -- Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York; cofounder Bloomberg LP.

"You should find an area that interests you and just get on the highway, and it will lead you wherever you lead it." -- Barry Diller, founder, IAC.

"You need to have a culture instead of a payroll, so that people watch themselves. What does this? Not money, but enhanced self-esteem." -- Steve Wynn, king of The Strip; founder, Mirage Resorts.

"Making money is a happiness; making other people happy is a super-happiness." -- Muhammad Yunus, father of microfinance.

"Everything today is speed, and there is always somebody else working on something better." -- Ron Perelman, buyout specialist.

"My interests and my priorities are using my life experience and what I have been able to achieve to nurture the next generation." -- Terry Gou, founder, Foxconn.

"In my daily life I try my best to practice what is known as Shin Zen Bi, which translates to Truth, Goodness, Beauty." -- Tadashi Yanai, founder Fast Retailing (Uniqlo).

"Growing up, my father hired a man named Jimmy Brown to work for our family, and he became one of my dearest friends. Jimmy taught me things my own father couldn't teach me, like how to sail." -- Ted Turner, founder, CNN.

"If we are complacent and not open to change, we will soon lose our place. The best way to stay ahead is to learn from the younger generation." -- Dhanin Chearavanont, senior chairman, CP Group.

"I like to imagine the world five years from now. Or imagine what I want the world to look like five years from now." -- Brian Chesky, cofounder Airbnb.

"There were many times in my life when I would have liked to follow the herd. Instead, I have always followed my gut—and sometimes it's been really lonely." -- Sam Zell, vulture legend; REIT collector.